Training your back can result in a much more 3D look. Next to legs, I find it’s such an undertrained muscle group that grows your physique.

It’ll give you a powerful look, not just seen from behind. That V taper is something that is so highly desired in bodybuilding, the back is no excuse in bringing it all together.

Let me show you what I mean here:

See how his lats (latissiumus dorsi) pop out from underneath his chest? It aids in the flow of his entire physique. From the broad shoulders to the tight waist, everything adds up. The lats not only gives you depth, but when you work back you also work your teres major and minor.

So what the hell does that mean to me?

When you work your back, you hit a whole bunch of smaller muscle groups. It’s not just your lats that gets worked. Your traps lets people know that you lift. Your teres major blends in with the infraspinatus muscle when you flex your bicep, looking from behind.

See what I mean?

Now let’s jump in to 3 killer exercises that are gonna make your back explode.

V Bar pull down

This is my favourite back exercise and one of my overall favourite exercises to do. You can overload the weight and really throw some weight around, or hit it with high reps and get that delicious pump.

Tip: Imagine pulling down with the tips of your elbows. Get your elbows to point the ground on the positive motion (concentric contraction). Keep your arms tight to your body and try to actually feel your lats with the back of your arms on the way down.

Doing it: Do your normal warmup routine and hit these with some heavy ass weight. Aim for the 6-8 rep mark, focussing on the squeeze of your lats on the way up and down. Bring the V bar about down to your sternum level and control the weight on the way up (eccentric contraction).

Don’t feel it? Lower the weight.

From a bodybuilding perspective, if you don’t feel the weight then you’re doing something wrong. I can’t stress this part enough. When you simply just move the weight, you’re not actually targeting the muscle group effectively.

Ever see that old dude in your gym curling way too much weight? Ever notice how that same guy uses his full body while curling? It’s nothing short of a weight lifting induced epileptic seizure. Very little tension is on the actual bicep in this example. Somehow he turned an isolation exercise into a goddamn full body one.

I’m not saying it’s completely useless, you’re still lifting, but there are just better ways of exercising.

Wide grip cable row

This exercise really helps build on the thickness of your back. The trick with this exercise is to do the full range of motion. Don’t just move the goddamn weight, feel the weight!

Tip: Pull the bar towards your navel while keeping your back straight and core tight. You’ll feel the pump right in the middle of your back if you’re doing it right.

Doing it: Hit this exercise with a medium weight, 3 sets of 10-12 reps. You want to really work your entire back with that full stretch (like you’re actually rowing!)

Not feeling it? Try it thumbless. This will put less emphasis on your forearms and more on your lats, so be prepared to lower the weight a bit. The weight is irrelevant in some instances, just chase that pump!

Dumbbell row

This is the gold standard of back building, the bread and butter of muscle sculpting. It’s such an easy to execute exercise that it’s a no brainer not to do.

The best part is the dumbbell row: it works your entire back. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than this! It’s not going to hit your traps as hard as a barbell shrug, but it’s a great all around exercise to incorporate into your routine.

Tip: Try this exercise on an incline bench. Put one knee on the bench and grasp the top of the bench with your hand. It’ll work the same muscles but you’ll get a different kind of stretch. Trust me, it’s worth doing!

Wrapping up

Experiment with different rep ranges and weights. Your back can handle stress, so don’t go too light weight. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try rows in the 15-20 rep range, but you should keep a consistent pump. Remember, don’t just move the weight; feel the weight!

Incorporate these exercises into your back training and I guarantee you’ll grow.

Rome wasn’t built in one day, and neither was your back. Being consistent is what will lead to growth!

“Why can’t I gain weight? I eat all day but I’m still the same. Help!”

You may or may not have heard something similar at the gym or from your family or friends. For some people, eating is more difficult than going to the gym and lifting. Other than lifting the goddamn weights, diet is absolutely crucial (next to sleep!) for muscle gain.

Have you maintained the same weight for a while now? Have you noticed you’re not as big as you should be by now? Lets jump into the reasons why you’re not growing

You’re not eating enough

This is the #1 reason why you’re not growing. I hear it all the time: “I’m eating 3500 calories a day but I’m the same, why??”. Chances are you’re not actually eating 3500 calories. Chances are MyFitnessPal is lying to you. When do you stop eating? If you’re on a cut, you stop once you’ve hit your caloric intake for the day. If you’re bulking, you only stop eating when you hate yourself (no excuses, fatty).

Your meals should be well balanced in terms of macro-ingredients and food variety. If your diet consists of lean meat, such as salmon or chicken breast, you have to eat a crap ton to get anywhere calorie-wise. Nutritionally, lean protein is just that: lean. It’s not full of fat, it’s low a calorie food with high protein ratio.

So if you’re eating one cup of plain white rice, that’s about 200 calories. Add to that meal your plain 12 oz chicken breast. Lets spice it up and add two cups of broccoli. Good job you’re at approximately 820 calories! Now eat 4 of those same meals and you’ll be just barely at 3500 calories. Can you actually eat 4 of those meals?

You’re not training hard enough

Nutrition and training go hand in hand. If you eat well and consistently, you’ll have the energy to fuel your workouts. If you eat like a teenage boy, you’re going to have zero energy in the gym, not enough protein to actually build muscle, and you’re going to get fat.

So if your diet is on point, and I mean consistently on point, and your training is going well then what is going on?

Ask yourself this: when I’m at the gym, do I push myself?

Actually ask yourself this question and answer this. Do you feel good about that answer?

Now sweat isn’t always a good indicator of how hard you work in the gym, but progress is. You can measure progress by the amount of weight, repetitions, and amount of volume you’re hitting on the muscle group.

It’s okay to throw up the same weight on the bench for a few weeks, but if you’re not progressing in some aspect, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. Squeeze that muscle, go for the full range of motion.

Some aspect of your training is flawed and you have to find out what it is. Is the weight too heavy? Are you tired before you even get to the gym? My rule of thumb is that if you can hold a conversation at the gym, you’re most likely not training hard enough.

Progress is to be found in a steady workout regimen that you stick to. Don’t go willy nilly in the gym with your training. Don’t throw in bicep curls on leg day just because there’s a cute girl in the free weights section. Stick to your plan. There’s a reason why it’s called a plan: it will ultimately lead you to your goals.

Wide shoulders make your waist look smaller and give you a better “V shape” that we all want.

If your shoulders are under developed your entire physique gets thrown off. The problem is that most guys suffer from horribly underdeveloped shoulders and never properly hit them.

My promise to you: When you follow the advice in this article your shoulders will blow up. Working shoulders might even become one of your favorite days. When you follow the routine at the end, your shoulders will have a pump unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

The 3 Secrets To Building Big Shoulders…

1) Work All 3 Heads Of Your Shoulder

Most shoulder workouts consist of doing some for of presses, move into some lackluster dumbbell raises, and usually end there. There’s no real understanding of how or what creates a true “boulder shoulder”. Let me explain…

Look at those weights. Those are not “heavy ass weights”. So many guys who have built amazing physiques have utilized light weight, high rep shoulder work.

Do you think Arnold did a quick and easy few reps with that? Hell no.

We both know he pumped until it hurt like hell and kept on going…

Light weight doesn’t have to be “easy” if you utilize your muscle properly.

I guarantee you mixing in this high volume work will have a phenomenal result on your shoulders.

The Perfect Shoulder Workout Routine…

I’m going to give you the shoulder workout that I personally use and blew my shoulders up with. Try this and I guarantee you’ll love it. You will never go back to your old shoulder routine.

WARM UP: Grab some bands and warm up your shoulders. Do some stretches and get them moving. If you’re doing overhead presses, use the bar for a set or a light set with dumbbells.

REST TIMES: For the presses, rest 1-2 minutes per set. For the rest of the workout try to keep your rest times between 30 seconds to a minute. Don’t be lazy. Work them like hell and feel the pump.

Shoulder Press (Bar Or Dumbbell ) – 4 Sets of 8 Reps

Barbell Upright Rows(Traps/Front/Middle Delt) – 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Dumbbell Lateral Raises (Middle Delt) – 4 sets of 12-14 reps

Dumbbell Front Raises (Front Delt) – 4 sets of 12-14 reps

Dumbbell Rear Raises (Real Delt) – 4 sets of 12-14 reps

Follow that workout to a tee next time you work shoulders and feel what I’m talking about.

Don’t just believe me because I say it’s true.

Go try it and see what I mean. You will feel your shoulders unlike anything else you’ve ever done.

Keep following this routine and you willliterally see the proof. Your shoulders will start growing, you’ll get that “boulder shoulder” look, and you’ll probably end up loving shoulders as much as you love Chest and Bi’s 😀

This doesn’t stop so many BS “gurus” from writing and acting like their methods are the absolute and only truth.

What’s worse is a lot of this bullshit information around the internet stems from scientific studies that people treat as fact.

When so much bodybuilding advice is based off of flawed studies, there is no surprise when you see the lack of results most people get in the gym.

People love to feel secure by reading the numbers, statistics, percentages, etc. but it is all bullshit.

In this post, I will teach you why these medical studies, articles you read on the internet (yes, even mine!), and other information are completely useless for you… unless you learn how to conduct your OWN study (which I’ll show you how to do).

Not EVERYONE In These Studies Gets Results…

When you look at a medical study – not that not everyone gets results.

The final conclusion might be that “protein powder adds muscle mass”, but not everyone saw results from the supplement.

What if YOU are different?

We are all different. What if your training methods are based off of something that works for someone else, but not for you? What a waste of time!

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer tried to replicate 67 famously published studies. Only 20.9% were able to be completely replicated, and a whopping 64.2% unable to be replicated. The others either being deemed “partially” replicated, or not applicable.

What About All The Other Ingredients In These “Proprietary Blends”?

Hate to break it to you, but most of the other ingredients are complete filler.

There are some commonly added ingredients that provide long term benefits, but not necessarily “pre workout” boosts. The closest being L-Arginine but I’ve never noticed a big difference when using it.

The “Preworkout”

Creatine

By saturating the amount of creatine in your system over time you will reap it’s benefits. Better recovery, water retention increasing muscle size, more strength, etc. While the results are not phenomenal (creatine isn’t a steroid), they are worth noting.

Beta-Alanine

This is the cause of the preworkout tingles you’ve probably felt before. Like creatine, Beta-Alanine’s benefits are seen from saturating your muscles over time. This makes the “preworkout” part of it pretty much useless aside from the tingles!

L-Arginine

This amino acid helps your body synthesize NO (nitric oxide) as made famous by certain preworkout drinks. Again, I’ve tried dosing it and never seen phenomenal result so I stick with caffeine.

The benefits of adding these other ingredients to your preworkout are convenience and furthered placebo effect…

Look, I know it sounds like BS that plain old caffeine will get you the boost you need, but it will.

You can find preworkout recipes online and they call for the ingredients listed above, but they will most likely not make a difference for you whatsoever. I invite you like always to test it out yourself, but for most there will be no measurable effect.

The big benefit to adding things such as creatine, glutamine, BCAA’s, beta-alanine, etc. to your preworkout is conveniently being able to take many supplements at one time.

The Ultimate Preworkout…

At the end of the day, the ultimate preworkout supplement is the one that you enjoy taking, get results from, and safely use.

I’ve picked apart several ingredients and found that caffeine is the best for me. No filler, it’s cheap, and it provides the entire “rush” I feel from any preworkout I’ve ever taken (aside from the beta-alanine tingles).

You’ll more than likely have the same results and save a ton of money on ridiculous powders 🙂

Most Guys Cannot Grow Their Chests!

You hit your chest from several angles. Incline, flat, decline, but for some reason…

It just won’t grow!

Trust me, I’ve been there myself going from barely being able to bench with two 25’s on, to pushing the 110lb dumbbells for chest presses.

My strength would go up every week. I was always making progress. But my damn chest was flatter than a pancake.

In this article, I’m going to explain to you why your chest isn’t growing, and how to make it grow like a weed…

The Problem With Chest Development…

Let’s talk about the big problem first.

Think of the bench press….

Ever noticed that some super skinny kids at the gym can throw around decent weight… yet remain flat chested?

How many skinny dudes do you see in the gym smashing out benches of 225lbs+ no problem?

How many skinny dudes with no chests do you see picking up 100lb dumbbells and chest pressing them?

There are a lot of strong guys who stay small and do not grow muscle.

The problem here lies in the correlation between strength and size.

There is a relation between the two, that’s very obvious.

Where most bodybuilders get caught up is thinking that more is better when it comes to increasing their strength and adding more weight to the bench press.

If you want to be a powerlifter – great!

If you want a big strong chest that drops jaws – listen up and pay attention!

When your only focus is adding more and more weight, you will likely reach a point where your chest itself (more on that later) can no longer take the majority of the load, and your other muscles will kick in to help.

When the weight gets too heavy, your shoulders, triceps, and chest all kick in to help press the weight.

I know, I know, it’s fun to smash around heavy weight. It feels good. It strokes your ego.

There is a time and place for heavy lifting, but if you want to grow your chest you need to put your ego aside and make some changes.

How To Properly Work Your Chest

People always talk about how wicked their pumps are at the gym.

Do you notice that they are almost always exclusively referring to their biceps?

Why don’t more guys brag about the insane chest pump they got from their workout?

You guessed right – they are hardly working their pectoral muscles properly!

When I switched up my routine, dropped the weight significantly, and started performing the exercises I’ll share below, my chest started to finally grow.

Get A Proper Squeeze…

You’ve probably heard dudes around the gym talk about “making sure you squeeze”.

This is making sure that you are properly utilizing the muscle that you are trying to hit.

The problem with chest (benching and dumbbells in particular) is that most dudes have no idea how to properly fire their chest muscles and drive through their chest.

Frank Zane, one of the many pro bodybuilders who were big on the mind muscle connection.

Next time you bench, before you add any weight try this…

With only the bar, perform your bench press and focus all of your energy on only using your chest muscles as best as possible.

Feel your chest doing the work and when you reach the top of the rep, fire your chest muscles and give them a good squeeze.

It should only take a handful of reps before you can get a really good burn going in the chest.

Now you’re using your muscles properly!

Most guys realize instantly and have a huge “a-ha! moment” that they have been benching wrong.

You can even try this right now by putting your arms out in front of you, hands together, and squeezing and flexing your chest as hard as you can. Feel the burn? That’s what you want when exercising your chest.

This is commonly referred to as a “mind-muscle” connection and a lot of seriously accomplished bodybuilders place great importance on the connection. One of these being Frank Zane – one of the most aesthetic humans to have ever walked this earth.

Make sure you get a proper squeeze and are properly firing and activating your pecs while training chest.

Hit It With More Volume & Rest Less…

Another tip that exploded my chest was to hit it with more volume.

Most dudes are lifting way too heavy, resting way too long, and not properly activating the muscle.

This is a trifecta of bullshit if you’re trying to grow a big chest.

Drop the weights, perform more reps, more sets, and keep your rest times no longer than a minute or a minute and a half.

If you’re worried about lower weight not being able to grow muscle, go read the last half of my Rich Piana Feeder Workout article for an explanation.

I guarantee your growth will be massive and your pumps will be unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

Perform Exercises That Better Isolate The Chest…

When you think of chest exercises, what comes to mind are the typical ones.

Bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, dumbbells for all the same variations, and maybe the odd isolation exercise such as flyes, cable crossovers, etc.

I’ve found that these majority of exercises people perform for chest are incredibly easy to mess up by using too much tricep and shoulder.

Add these exercises into your next chest workout to properly isolate the chest and make it grow. You can click each exercise for an explanation video. You will see how these are very hard to use any muscle except your chest when using proper form.

Flat Dumbbell Flyes

Incline Dumbbell Flyes

Chest Pullovers

Cable Crossovers

Wide Grip Bench Press (Moderate Weight)

Wide Grip Incline Bench Press (Moderate Weight)

Take my advice from this article, put your ego aside, learn to properly fire and activate your chest, and I guarantee it will grow like crazy. Until next time!

You will perform each exercise for the allotted amount of reps and sets.

You will rest only 1 minute in between each set. This is going to make it an intense fat burning workout.

Combined with the high reps you will get unreal pumps and your physique will love you.

If you are confused about any of the exercises, just click the exercise name and an instructional video will open in Youtube.

1) Arms

We are going to be working out arms on the same day. This will be the biceps and the triceps together for workout number one. We will focus on good squeezes, really utilizing the muscle and obtaining a full pump. Make sure to isolate the muscle and exercise strict form. It will hurt. That’s the goal!

Supersetting: We will be supersetting our bicep and tricep exercises. This means you will perform one and immediately move into the next exercise. Once you have finished the supersetted exercise, you will begin your rest.

2) Chest/Back

We are going to be hitting chest and back in the same day. Your goal is to get a good squeeze. FEEL your muscles contracting under the weight. This is especially important with your chest. Make sure you are actually lifting the weight with your chest.

Back is by far the most challenging (and least utilized) muscle group when it comes to dumbbell workouts. Following this routine you should be able to get a good pump and work your lats hard.

With your rows, make sure to let your lats fully stretch out for a full range of motion.

NOTE: If you have access to a chinup bar I highly recommend throwing in a few sets of pullups until failure. If not, you will still be able to hit your back but chinups do wonders for lats.

Shoulders/Legs

Our last workout is shoulders and legs. With legs, you will not have heavy enough weight to hit them hard but you can still rep out like always and get a good pump. Make them burn, stick to the rep ranges and lower rest times and you’ll still be able to effectively hit them.

Our goal with shoulders is to isolate each head of the shoulder with higher rep work and really get a good pump. Exercise strict form on each lift and make sure you rep them out. Your dumbbells should be light enough to reach these rep ranges with no problems.

How many times have you heard the concept of having to bulk first, and then cut in order to look good?

On paper it makes sense – you eat big, lift big, get big. You become a raw powerhouse during the bulking phase and shed the fat during your cut.

The reality?

Most dudes end up looking like the Michelin Man during their “bulking phase”.

Look, I’m not making this up. You look around the internet and you’ll see plenty of guys bragging about their “dirty bulk” and how they’ll “get shredded in summer” (which they never do).

I’m also not telling you this acting like I’ve never done it. I’ve been there myself multiple times.

I first used this method to bulk up from being 6’3 160 lbs to 206 lbs in about a years time.

The problem was that I turned into a chubby marshmallow, not the Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike I was hoping for.

My diet consisted of endless amounts of pizza, Mcdonald’s dollar menu items, and pretty much any other high calorie food you could imagine.

You Need To Stop Chasing Numbers On The Scale…

Literally all I cared about was if that number on the scale was going up. As long as I weighed more than I did last time I was happy.

Weight means absolutely nothing. Pictured below is me at 206 lbs on the Michelin Man diet, compared to me at around 187 lbs on the “I want to look good” diet.

See the difference? I ACTUALLY thought I looked good and was getting “jacked” in the left picture. Even though I was nearly 20 lbs lighter in the right picture I looked way better. My arms and legs even measured bigger.

This is proof of just how deceiving the scale can be.

If you want to look good, the answer is not just shoving whatever shitty food you can down your throat, and justifying it with the excuse of “bulking”.

And that’s exactly what it is. An excuse.

It’s an excuse to be lazy. An excuse to eat like shit. An excuse to look like shit.

It’s easy to believe that eating another piece of pizza is actually healthy for you when you’re buying into the bulking lie.

Let The Mirror Do The Talking…

If you celebrate when looking at your gains on the scale, but feel like shit when you look in the mirror you’ve got a problem.

The mirror doesn’t lie. The scale does.

Don’t forget why you are working out in the first place. I bet it’s one of two reasons.

Be healthy. Look awesome.

Eating garbage food with zero regard for your health accomplishes neither of these goals, yet for some reason it’s the go-to strategy for younger guys looking to gain muscle.

Ok, So How Do I Bulk Properly Then?

“Jon, you’re sitting here making me feel bad for eating all of this pizza, but what do you propose is the right way to bulk then?”

Want the simple answer?

Eat real food. Lots of it.

Food like eggs, steak, beef, chicken, fish, rice, vegetables…

You know this already. It’s not a secret. There really are no secrets in the bodybuilding world.

You more than likely understand the basics of diet and you don’t need me to break down the importance of protein, carbs, fats, etc…

You need to get honest and just start eating real food.

Does it come prepackaged? Is it loaded with sugar? Do you order it through a drive through? Does it come in a square box covered in cheese and pepperoni?

NOT real food.

I’ll be honest – you can also get fat eating these foods. It’s a LOT harder to do it though.

You’ve probably heard of the dieting concept of “If It Fits Your Macros”.

If not, the kindergarten explanation is that your body requires a certain number of calories and macronutrients in order to sustain itself.

If you go over on calories, you gain weight. If you’re under, you lose weight. You build or lose muscle depending on your macronutrient intake.

This means that you can eat pretty much whatever you want (so long as it fits your daily limits) and still reach your fitness goals.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal right?

It is. If you have insane discipline and incredibly strong willpower.

If you’re able to eat every single meal, counting every single calorie and macronutrient then it works.

The problem is that, again, it becomes an excuse to eat junk and be lazy.

I focus on living my life and enjoying it – not spending so much of my precious time counting calories.

Let me be crystal clear on that. I enjoy life. I recommend you do the same.

I’m not saying to never again eat these foods. Just don’t shovel them down your throat while lying to yourself about the reality.